by Mark Boutros
It roared and smashed Arazod against the sea. It retreated to the underwater world and the ocean rose and fell. Arazod, Frong and the bodies of the blue creatures vanished into the deep.
Sea, Sea, See
Arazod coughed and dug his claws into the tentacle wrapped around his throat, hoping to free himself before it pulled him under the water again.
Every breath crushed his chest and felt as if it could burst his lungs.
He raked the tentacle.
‘Stop scratching me!’ Karl said.
Arazod gripped the tentacle and realised it was an arm. The water around them was still and Arazod stared at the sky.
Karl tied a rope around Arazod’s chest and Oaf pulled him back onto the ship.
Arazod collapsed onto the wooden deck.
Sabrinia ran towards Karl as he climbed onto the ship.
Nobody had ever worried for Arazod nor feared for his safety.
Marlens knelt by Arazod and rubbed green powder into his feathers. He had no idea what it was but it made the gash less painful. She was impressive. How different things could’ve been in the past if someone like her was on his side.
‘You okay?’ Marlens asked.
He nodded, struggling to form words without pain.
‘Thanks, Karl,’ Arazod said.
Karl stared at him with less hatred, but the hatred was still there and he knew he deserved it. Karl would never forgive him, but he didn’t want his forgiveness. He only wanted to feel that he could exist without having to worry about a sword ramming through the back of his neck.
Karl approached Arazod and offered him a handful of salt seeds.
Arazod’s hands trembled and he accepted them. He tossed them into his beak and nodded appreciation.
‘Thanks for saving Frong,’ Karl said.
Frong squeezed water out of his shirt, extended his hand and pulled Arazod up to his feet. ‘It’s appreciated, Arazod.’
It was strange. They weren’t offering him their obedience, but they were being respectful, and it wasn’t through fear or force.
Karl turned to Frong. ‘What was that thing? A god?’
Frong shook his head. ‘I’ve no idea. It’s the biggest creature I’ve ever seen and compares to nothing I’ve heard described. We’re in a part of the world we don’t know much about now.’
‘Might be time for a fourth edition of that book,’ Karl said.
‘Look,’ Marlens said.
The blue creatures rode their fish, far behind them now.
If they tried to attack again, Arazod would stick his talons through their faces, but the distance grew until they disappeared. It seemed they knew what was best for them.
Oaf handed Arazod a drying sheet.
‘Thank you.’ Arazod admired Oaf. He had the strength to bash most beings, but didn’t flaunt it. He treated Arazod like a being, nothing else. Oaf was honest about his feelings and it didn’t matter that Arazod was a Man-Hawk, or a Man-Hawk without wings. To Oaf he was someone to try to find common ground with. Even as an enemy. It was bizarre but he appreciated it.
Arazod felt his strength return and he had this group of people, a group of people he had ruined the lives of, to thank.
‘No time to rest,’ Frong said.
Karl nodded. ‘Yep. Just as I imagined. It looks like somewhere I wish we didn’t have to go.’
There it was on an island, halfway up a mountain. The door to the castle within the rocks. In there was the power his sister craved. A power that could save or destroy the world.
Free the People
Flowfornians chomped down fruit as though they’d never eaten. Bar Witch would have to eat hay if they continued eating at this pace.
‘It’s great, isn’t it?’ Hargon fed the baby some berries.
‘What? It’s disgraceful,’ Bar Witch answered.
He shook his head. ‘Sure they could treat the food like it needs to last a bit longer, but they’re smiling, and we caused that.’
He had a point, but there was a bigger concern. ‘We can’t keep going in and out to get food, though.’
Hargon huffed. ‘True. And other Man-Hawks might decide to search the tavern.’
Bar Witch raised a hand. ‘Listen! Oi, idiots!’ She had their attention. ‘You lot eating like vultures isn’t something that’ll see us live very long, so it’s time to escape.’
They stared at her.
‘But we have to go one by one, so me and Hargon can lead you safely. Then, when you’re in the woods, you go to the lake and wait for others. Got it?’
They stared at her.
She sighed. ‘Who’s coming first?’
An old man, Grolt, raised his arm.
Hargon handed the baby to a Flowfornian man. ‘I’ll get into position.’ He left.
Bar Witch walked Grolt to the tavern entrance and looked out at Flowforn.
Hargon waited, crouched by a boulder.
‘Okay,’ Bar Witch said. ‘First you go to that statue of King Sastin and wait while the flying idiot above does his circle. Then when I raise my right fist, you make a break for it. Got it?’
‘Yes,’ Grolt said.
‘Once you get to Hargon, squeeze behind that boulder and there’s a gap in the wall that’ll get you outside.’
Grolt nodded. ‘Thank you.’
‘Good luck.’ Bar Witch waited for the Man-Hawk patrolling the skies to fly towards the opposite wall. ‘Go.’
Grolt sprinted to the statue and sat against it. Bar Witch gave him a thumbs up. This would be easy. Now they needed to wait. The Man-Hawk flew above them and would be gone any moment.
He flew down instead and stood by the well, close to the statue.
Grolt stared at Bar Witch.
It would be fine. She raised a finger for him to wait.
He buried his head in his knees.
Another Man-Hawk landed next to the other and they spoke.
Bar Witch didn’t know what to do. The longer she left Grolt, the higher the risk. She had to do something. Why was this all on her?
She waited until the Man-Hawks stepped away. She raised her right fist and Grolt ran, but the Man-Hawks turned and spotted him.
‘Stop!’ one said.
Hargon ducked behind the boulder.
Grolt raised his arms.
The Man-Hawks flew in front of him. ‘What are you doing?’
Bar Witch held her breath.
‘Nothing,’ Grolt said.
‘This is your last chance to say something useful,’ the Man-Hawk said.
Bar Witch needed to do something, but if she did they’d both be dead, and more people needed her. Is this what being a leader was – sacrificing people?
Grolt spat in the Man-Hawk’s face. A sword pierced Grolt’s stomach.
Bar Witch hated herself.
A Helping Hand
The steel door, midway up the mountain was unnecessarily big, unless it was for giants, in which case it was terrifying. A line ran through a hand-shaped mould and all the way up the door to a small, dull crystal.
Oaf pounded the door. ‘How are we supposed to get in? I can’t even beat it down.’
Frong pointed to the crystal. ‘It’s a guardian stone. And I guess this hand mould is a mechanism to operate it.’ He placed his hand in the mould but nothing happened. ‘It seems this was protected with magic so Seliria was the only one who could get in or out.’
‘So there’s no way in for us?’ Karl glanced at their ship, anchored at the bottom of the mountain. They’d left Sags in his bath, the best place for him.
Karl wondered if they’d wasted all those sunsets. He wished they’d let him sneak into the castle to retrieve the orb.
‘Well, we could try fire,’ Frong said. ‘Her gauntlet allowed her to command flame so it would make sense that her flaming hand got her in. Marlens?’
Marlens grabbed the orange jar from her belt. ‘Give me your spear,’ she asked Frong.
He handed it over and she poured the orange liquid
on it, setting it ablaze. She rubbed the spearhead into the mould of the hand. Fire burned on the steel, but nothing happened. ‘Nope…’ She clipped the jar back to the belt.
Karl rubbed his finger along scratches on the side of the door. ‘Looks like someone’s already tried to get in.’
Arazod nodded. ‘Man-Hawks…’
Frong scratched his beard. ‘Then they’ve already been here and failed.’
‘She’ll be back,’ Arazod said. ‘She’ll find a way. When she wants something, she obsesses. If she can’t get the gauntlet she’ll find another route to Death—’ he wheezed. ‘It will likely involve a lot of lives ending.’ Arazod climbed on top of a rock and shrieked.
‘What are you doing?’ Oaf asked.
‘If Man-Hawks are still here they will come and we can fight them and get answers.’
The last thing Karl wanted was more Man-Hawks.
‘There.’ Arazod pointed to the remains of a fire.
They all ran over.
‘Feathers and blood,’ Sabrinia said.
Karl grabbed Marlens and gestured for her to follow him.
‘Marlens, I need to set my hand ablaze and put it in that mould.’
She looked at him as though he was mad. ‘Your hand’ll cook. No chance.’
‘We need the gauntlet,’ Karl said. ‘We can’t risk her getting it. I’d give up all my limbs for Sags, so just help me out.’
She bit her lip.
‘Please. If it burns to a crisp we can use the wizard-lizard hair to get me it back.’
Marlens shook her head.
‘Can you think of a better way?’ he asked.
She rubbed her chest and grimaced. ‘Put your hand out, then.’
He did and she rubbed red lotion onto it. ‘This won’t save your hand, but it’ll make it less horrible. But that ain’t saying much.’
Karl took a breath. ‘Thank you.’ He grabbed the bottle of orange liquid from her and poured a semi-circle around the door to prevent anyone stopping him. The flames rose.
Karl kissed his hand goodbye. ‘See you soon.’
‘You only need a few drops.’ Marlens winced.
Karl nodded. He hesitated and looked away. For Sags.
He poured the orange liquid on his left hand until it was covered in flame. He jammed it into the mould.
‘I’m going to need to look away,’ Marlens said.
Karl stared at his hand, fascinated by the movement of flames around his fingers.
The mould shifted around his hand and fire ate his fingertips. The mould locked onto his wrist and he couldn’t move.
He tried to fight the agony but he screamed and the others rushed towards him, stopped by the flames.
‘What are you doing?’ Sabrinia yelled.
‘Sorry,’ Marlens said.
‘Put the fire out!’ Sabrinia demanded.
‘Don’t do it!’ Karl yelled.
Sweat covered his face and his head swayed. Sharp pain consumed his hand and his wrist burned and blistered. An orange glow filled the line towards the gem and it turned amber.
The door clicked, the mould released Karl’s hand and the door slid down into the ground.
Marlens pulled Karl away from the door and threw some black powder over his hand, extinguishing the flames.
Karl faded and caught a glimpse of a shadow high up the mountain.
Arazod shrieked again.
Steely Secrets
‘Karl! Karl!’ Sabrinia tapped his face, but he wouldn’t move. ‘How could you let him?’ she yelled at Marlens, who rubbed swamp vine into Karl’s gums.
‘He just needs rest,’ Marlens said.
‘Look at his hand!’ Bones poked out of Karl’s blistered, red-raw mess. ‘Is this your revenge for Sags?’
Marlens stared at Sabrinia but said nothing.
Oaf pulled Sabrinia from the cold steel room they stood in. ‘Karl wanted this. It’s not her fault.’
Oaf was right, but Marlens should have stopped him. Karl wasn’t thinking straight.
Frong stepped outside of the room. ‘It might be wise to split up. We should leave Marlens to help Karl while we get the gauntlet.’
Sabrinia nodded. She entered the room, touched Karl’s face and kissed his forehead. ‘We’ll be back soon.’
Sabrinia should’ve apologised to Marlens but decided against it and rejoined the others. ‘Where do we start?’
‘We find the throne room.’ Frong scanned the room. ‘Where’s Arazod?’
Arazod shrieked. He emerged from a steel chamber.
Hundreds of steel rooms, connected by steel lines, sat within the rocks.
‘I was investigating,’ Arazod said. ‘What are these? Rooms for warriors?’
Frong shook his head. ‘These are steel chambers of death.’ He pointed to ashen stains on the steel floor. ‘Stories tell of people being imprisoned here. Seliria would heat this entire place, the furnace spreading through those steel lines, until her prisoners burned.’
Acid rose in Sabrinia’s throat. They stood on a mass murder site.
Frong scratched his beard. ‘I heard her downfall came because she wasn’t selective about who she imprisoned. Some heroes had themselves deliberately arrested, then burst out of their cells.’ He pointed to a room with the door blown off. ‘And they killed her. Thankfully.’
‘This place is creepy,’ Oaf said.
Sabrinia took an arrow from her quiver. Steel lines connected each hall and room, so even in a peaceful dining hall, Seliria’s flaming touch could reach anyone. It wasn’t so much the torturous surroundings that made Sabrinia uneasy, but the silence of murder, the freezing emptiness, and the smell of ash that even after years of inactivity still lingered like souls trapped.
They entered the throne room, lined with steel carvings of a horned creature of fire, riding the wind.
‘This place is a monument to her obsession with Pyralus,’ Frong said.
A glass bridge stretched over rocky pits packed with charred skeletons.
Sabrinia crossed the bridge and walked over an ash-covered grate. Chains hung above it. ‘I hope that isn’t what I think it is.’
Frong nodded. ‘Seliria loved watching.’
Sabrinia continued to Seliria’s circular steel throne and studied it. All the steel lines flowed out of it and into the rocky walls like a web. From here Seliria could control the heat in her entire kingdom.
Sabrinia’s head shot to the far corner. ‘Anyone see that?’
Holes dotted the ceiling.
‘It’s nothing,’ Frong said. ‘It’s normal to hear noises and see things where there are none. It’s part of being in spooky settings. The mind plays all sorts of tricks.’
‘Let’s get the gauntlet and get out of here,’ Oaf said.
Sabrinia walked to a door where stairs descended into darkness. ‘Hopefully it’s down here, and that’s all that’s down here.’
Arazod tapped her shoulder.
Sabrinia shuddered. She’d never get used to him being on their side.
‘What do you plan to do when you get the gauntlet?’ he asked.
‘I think it would be wise to destroy it,’ Frong said. ‘Then nobody will be able to awaken Death or command fire. The existence of such power is enough to motivate evil, so it’s best to be rid of it.’
Oaf looked at the ground.
‘Or we use it to kill Ryza,’ Arazod suggested.
‘That’s dangerous, though,’ Oaf said. ‘If it goes wrong she has it, then she’ll have no reason to keep Quizmal around.’ He clenched his fists. ‘And what if she offers us a swap? Quizmal for the gauntlet?’
‘Pointless,’ Arazod said. ‘As soon as she has the gauntlet she’d fry us so you’d—’ he wheezed. ‘Get a hug before being cooked with your son.’
Sabrinia sat on Seliria’s throne, imagining the pain she had caused from it.
Arazod wheezed. ‘We should use it and have it on our side. No evil will approach if there’s the threat of being burned to de
ath.’
Frong chuckled. ‘We both know that’s not true. The seduction of power draws evil towards it.’ He scratched his beard. ‘If you knew this power existed in a castle somewhere, you and your Fools and Lord Ragnus would have been upon it swiftly.’
Arazod nodded. ‘It is an attractive power to have.’
Sabrinia tapped her arrow against the steel armrest. ‘Like Oaf said, there’s a risk we lose and Ryza takes the gauntlet.’
‘The reward of her dying is worth it,’ Arazod argued.
Sabrinia nodded. ‘Then we have a plan. We use it to destroy Ryza, and then we destroy the gauntlet. This isn’t a power that should exist.’
‘But it can help to keep order in the world,’ Arazod pushed.
‘We have our plan. And I’ll be the one to kill Ryza with it,’ Sabrinia said.
A flood of gangly and grey half-human, half-deer creatures climbed out of the holes in the walls.
‘Maybe we should get going,’ Oaf said.
Frong’s eyes widened. ‘Gygus are meant to be extinct.’
‘Looks like they’re far from it,’ Sabrinia said.
The group turned and ran, leaving the grunts of the Gygus behind.
A Worthy Leader
‘He died because of me, because I rushed it. I could’ve waited more.’ Bar Witch placed a handful of berries on an abandoned cart.
‘It’s not your fault. We watched the Man-Hawks patrol and we were unfortunate they changed their movements,’ Hargon said.
‘I’m not supposed to be responsible for morons. Drinks I brew. Idiots I amuse. But caring for lives, that’s not me and it shows.’ Grolt might have been old but he had more life in him than most Flowfornians who spent time in the tavern. Bar Witch was responsible for him and she let him die.
Hargon scratched a circle into the bark of a tree. ‘You’ve been amazing. And nothing we do is without risk, even this. We’re risking our lives now for what? So people who might escape have enough food and a safe path that might not even end up safe.’ He carved a circle into another tree.
